It’s hard to get much worse than this: 42 percent turnout in the November election, when California voters elected a governor, seven other statewide officials and most of the state Legislature.
There’s little question why: It wasn’t a presidential year, the governor’s race wasn’t competitive, and neither of California’s U.S. Senate seats was on the ballot. The election even lacked high-profile statewide ballot measures – a rarity in California.
The previous record-low voter turnout for a non-presidential general election was 50 percent in 2002, when Governor Gray Davis won re-election.
Meanwhile, the state posted a new record for the number of Californians who voted by mail this general election: 61 percent, up from 48 percent four years ago.
